birthdays not showing in calendar after importing contacts from ex

[Dindo Fernando]

I've recently migrated my contacts from Palm Desktop to Outlook 2003 by first
exporting to a CSV file and then importing into Outlook. I noticed that not
all of my contacts with entries in the birthday field showed up in my Outlook
calendar.

My first thought was the formatting (missing year) was the problem, so I bit
the bullet and put in the year for those contacts without year entries for
their birthdays in the CSV files and re-imported. However this did not fix
the problem.

Anyone have any ideas on what I did wrong or how I can fix this problem?

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

One of the many well documented limitations of importing. All connections
are lost.
Why was it necessary for you to use an intermediary format to transfer these
Contacts? Could you not synchronize them?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Dindo Fernando" <DindoF...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4F4783DB-8F88-4C14...@microsoft.com...

[dindo fernando]

Sorry for not being clear. I had to export my contacts from Palm Desktop to
a CSV file, and then import the CSV file into Outlook 2003.

Can you clarify what you mean by 'connections'? Is there a 'connection'
established between the calendar and address book to reflect the birthday
entries in the address book as a calendar entry?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:eIvQps4a...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Outlook maintains many connections among Outlook Items. That's how it
derives views like Activities, Journal, and the automatic display of
Contact's birthdays and anniversaries in the Calendar.
All connections are lost whenever you import Outlook data.
My question was why you had to import Outlook data. Palm is able to
synchronize Outlook data.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message
news:eErd2IBb...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

To be honest, I did not know that I could synchronize my Palm device to
Outlook (I was using a Palm m505 by the way).

Anyway, since I have already done the import via CSV, is there a way for me
re-establish the 'connections' such that my contacts' birthdays and
anniversaries are shown in my Calendar? If none, can anyone suggest a
third-party software that can help me do this?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:%23pJVlcE...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I know of no way to do so automatically.
If you just open a Contact Record in question and save it, do the dates not
show up on the calendar then?

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:ONyxw9Sb...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

Yes, if I manually open a contact record, 'alter' the birthday field or
anything so that the system detects a change and save the record, that
particular record will have a calendar entry. However, I do not want to do
this for all of my 2000+ contacts! Is there a way or workaround that I can
employ? Can I copy the contacts into a PST and then copy back into my
mailbox contacts?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:upWabKTb...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I don't know of any way to re-establish connections automatically.
There might be a way to do so with code, so you could ask in a programming
group.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:O2Gw52fb...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

In my opinion, this is a 'bug' but would like to validate with you. If you
agree, would you know the process as to how I can report this bug and get it
fixed. If not, can you suggest a particular programming group I can refer
to?

Thanks.

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:%23ifzuLi...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I know of no way and no need to report it. It's already well known and well
documented behavior and always has been in Outlook.
It's one of the reasons we always advise against importing whenever
possible.
Why you had to import is unclear to me.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:%2399kYOu...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

Thank you for the reply. Can you please tell me where the advise against
importing is documented?

Does this mean that importing has now permanently destroyed all my
connections between my calendar and address book and there is no way to fix
it? May I suggest that we get over the issue of importing, I had explained
earlier that I had imported my data primarily because I did not know that I
can synchronize my Palm m505 with Outlook. Putting a bit of thought into
this scenario now, it is my understanding that the way to synchronize a Palm
device with Outlook is via ActiveSync. Whilst the new Palm devices has
support for ActiveSync, my old m505 does not support this. Am I missing
something here or may I safely conclude that my m505 may not be able to
synchronize with Outlook?

Anyway, perhaps another 'perspective' may help as the act of importing may
be muddling the real issue. Assuming that the act of importing did not
permanently destroy connections (which is my question above), will the act
of copying new contacts from other PSTs into my mailbox establish
connections for the new contacts that are copied (this is not importing, but
simply copying between PST and mailbox). If so, will the workaround of
copying my contacts in my Mailbox to an external PST and copying them back
solve my problem?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:eZpkwqub...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You will find countless posts in this group where we list all the
information that is lost by importing.

We would have no idea whether and how your Palm synchronizes with Outlook.
You'll need to ask Palm. ActivSync is for use with Pocket PC's.

The way to transfer data from your mailbox would be to copy it to a PST file
then open that PST file in the another installation. Just make sure you
don't export or import, or you'll lose all connections again.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:%237simy4...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

Again to clarify, I have lost no information in my 'act of importing'. All
the fields are intact, including the birthday fields. My problem is that
the birthdays do not show up in the calendar, as should be the case
(http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC060823511033)

As for your comment on Palm synchronizing with Outlook, it was you who
actually implied that it could be done. The only way I knew of transferring
my Palm contacts to my Oultook contacts was via importing via CSV (I believe
that is why this function is there in the first place). Can you point me to
the posts in the group which tell me how importing from CSV destroys the
connection between the Outlook contacts and calendar?

I still believe that this is a bug that should be fixed, unless you show me
documentation from Microsoft that shows that this is working as designed.

Finally, I need more clarity on your suggestion: "copy it to a PST file

then open that PST file in the another installation".

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:e0XZiF5b...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Not really. I haven't the time to search the groups for you.
Microsoft does not document its deficiciencies particularly well. That's why
we do.
The following information is known to be lost by importing and has been well
documented here:
1. Custom Forms
2. Custom Views
3. Connections between contacts and activities
4. Received dates on mail
5. Birthdays and anniversaries in calendar
6. Journal connections
7. Distribution Lists
Simply copying and opening a PST file will preserve all of these.

You need instructions on how to copy a PST file and open it?
Close Outlook. Copy the PST file with Windows Explorer.
Open said file in Outlook: File > Open > Outlook Data File

Information on synchronization with Palm is only available from Palm. My
Palm synchronizes flawlessly with Outlook and always has.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:OJxXRaQc...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

[dindo fernando]

Perhaps you can give a bit more clarity: my contacts are in my Mailbox, not
in a PST. Do you suggest that I move all my contacts in my Mailbox to a
PST, follow your instructions, and then move back to my mailbox? Will that
fix my problem?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" <rus...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:%23DFLwfS...@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No it won't fix your problem.
Your problem arose because you had to import your data. Moving it back an
forth from a mailbox to a PST won't solve anything.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"dindo fernando" <di...@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message

news:OAQ94tmc...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...